


All That Fire is Repeated

by jesterlady



Category: Lost
Genre: Afterlife, Canon Compliant, Canon Het Relationship, Canonical Character Death, Crossing Parallels, F/M, Multi, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-17 23:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/873224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesterlady/pseuds/jesterlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After death, Juliet and Desmond discuss how similar their lives were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That Fire is Repeated

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: It was inspired by a fanvideo on youtube by dandalafleurmc. My version of life after death. Spoilers Up to THE END  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. The title is by Pablo Neruda

When they stepped into the light there was more than just the sensation of fulfillment, of letting go; it was a total oneness that would have scared most of them before in their life. There was a curious sense of peace, of being at rest, but resting with the knowledge of more than just yourself. Suddenly, they knew everything about each other; they remembered each of the others' lives, almost as if it were their own. There was still individuality, still personality, but now there was a shared cause and remembrance. The time they had spent together and the island had shaped them and now they knew why for everyone. There was no longer any need for apologies or ‘I told you so's.’ Nobody needed to hear the words, ‘I love you,’ even though they were still said often. Death wasn’t all that different from life, but in death, there was no why. There just was.

It was no surprise to any of them that their death involved the island. That’s who they were, after all. Everything from all points of their island existence was still intact. Some chose to stay in the barracks, others on the beach, one or two in the caves. Locke never slept indoors and Shannon and hence, Sayid, never slept outdoors. The hatch was there if anyone felt like pingpong, though no buttons were ever pushed. The rec room was available for pool and no one was ever handcuffed inside. Rose did her laundry outside while Libby still preferred the hatch. Everyone seemed to congregate on the beach at night and time and distance didn't have any meaning unless someone wanted them to. 

Juliet stood with her bare feet buried in the sand, sinking, as Kate had once done. It should have been weird to know exactly what Kate had felt so soon after the crash while Juliet herself had been on the other side of the island, but it wasn’t.

“Is that a sport anyone can play at?” came a voice from behind her, but she didn’t need to recognize the Scottish accent to know it was Desmond.

“I think everyone should do this at least once in their death,” she said, smiling at him as he joined her.

“For once I’m glad to be standing on this beach,” he said, ignoring the non-need for references to time. 

“Me too,” she said. “There was a time when I would have given anything to be away from it.”

“Aye, I know. I hated this place. It was beautiful, but deadly, so deadly.”

“It was all consuming,” she whispered. “For three years before the crash I was stifled, captive. I did so many things I wished I could take back.”

“Three years,” he said, looking at her more closely. “We’ve that in common as well.”

“I think you’ll find,” she said mischievously, “if you sift through our lives, that you and I have more in common than most people would have thought.”

“I gather you’re right about that,” he said, seeming to do just so.

“Our taste in music,” she said.

“Our taste in people,” he offered. 

She looked over her shoulder where Penny and Sawyer could be seen on the other end of the beach, heading for them.

“Our cowardice in being unable to stay with a good thing when we had it,” she said quietly.

“Regrets in paradise?” he asked lightly and she smiled brilliantly again.

“Impossible, as you well know. But, all the same, being released from it now doesn’t mean we should have done it then.”

“True. I guess the only good it does now is reminding us of how fortunate we are to have two people who never gave up on us.”

“Even when we tried to blow up the island.”

“On the very same spot.”

“They loved us.”

“It was hard,” he said, returning his gaze to the ocean. “Seeing into death and knowing I wasn’t there. It was harder for you though.”

“You weren’t staying there, so it was ultimately harder for you, I think; but, all the same, I wanted to tell James so badly it was all going to be okay, but I couldn’t quite manage it.”

“At least you didn’t look like a stalker trying to get a woman’s number in order to ring her up in eight years.”

She laughed quietly. 

“I guess I never did seem like a stalker.”

“No, though we did each get three happy years in exchange for the three unhappy ones.”

“I guess that’s right. And you got to have Charlie.”

“Aye. I wish you could have known that joy.”

“Not on the island. Though I guess it’s ironic that I caused the very same problem I was trying to fix for so long.”

“And I exposed myself to the blast that dragged me back to the infernal place.”

“We often did seem to be pawns in a larger game played out by Widmore or Ben or Jacob.”

“Ben also tried to or did kill our loved ones on a regular basis,” he said. 

Her smile grew somewhat weaker.

“I’m glad he didn’t kill Penny.”

“I’m glad he wasn’t on the island to kill Sawyer,” he replied. 

They were silent for awhile; there was really no need for talking, unless they wanted to. The only sounds were the crashing of the waves, a distant call of a bird.

“Do you believe in destiny now?” she asked.

“More than ever, though, no, not really.” 

She smiled.

“I once thought that if there were enough signs, it meant that something was supposed to happen or not happen.”

“I had visions telling me the same thing.”

“I think it’s both,” she decided. “The island wanted us for some reason, for all reasons. All of us. But once we got there it was up to us. And many things could have been different.”

“Do you two have to keep on jawing about destiny and such nonsense?” Sawyer said, coming up to overhear the end of the conversation.

“Don’t get all ratted up, brother,” Desmond said. “We’re just reminding ourselves how lucky we are. How similar.”

“I guess I never noticed how many parallels you two have,” Penny said, taking Desmond’s hand in hers. “But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“We all got parallels, sister,” Sawyer said. “Reunions after death, throwing away perfectly good rings in dramatic gestures. You could’ve hocked it, Highlander.”

“James,” Juliet said lightly, poking him. “You never would’ve hocked my ring. Why should Desmond be any different?”

“No reason,” he said, laughing. “I’m just saying.” 

They all laughed together before wordlessly moving to head down the beach toward the others. That was one other benefit to being dead. There wasn’t mind reading or super powers, but communication was effortless and, hence, unwanted quarrels non-existent. 

“You’re forgetting the other thing you have in common,” Penny said, as they walked. “Your selflessness.”

“That’s right,” Sawyer agreed. “No use trying to argue, Blondie. You both sacrificed yourselves to save everyone else. More times than one. You turned keys, hit bombs, unplugged holes, and refused to get on Zodiacs.”

“Other people jumped from helicopters and searched the seven seas,” Juliet said, wrapping his arm around her waist. 

Sawyer simply winked at Penny and kissed the top of Juliet’s head.

They talked more, about Julian, Clementine, and Charlie, about being a con man, a doctor, a soldier, and an heiress. They discussed Scotland, England, Miami, and Tennessee. They relived hatches, barracks, yachts, tents, and houses. They didn’t need to. Everything had already been lived by all of them, but somehow, the joy of not knowing was overshadowed by the joy of retelling and sharing in that knowledge. 

The island waters glittered in the distance; the sun and wind danced together among the trees while the mountains rose towering above them. The rest of their group of island people waited for them at various points on the island and since they were dead, there were no worries. But there was love and acceptance and, somehow, a choice. Destiny and nature had brought them to this place, but they were the ones who dwelt there.


End file.
